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Efficient holmium-doped solid-state lasers pumped by a Tm-doped silica fiber laser

Efficient holmium-doped solid-state lasers pumped by a Tm-doped silica fiber laser
Efficient holmium-doped solid-state lasers pumped by a Tm-doped silica fiber laser
In-band pumping of Ho-doped solid-state lasers by a cladding-pumped Tm fiber laser is an attractive route to high output power and high pulse energy in the eyesafe two-micron spectral region. This approach combines the advantages of fiber lasers and crystal solid-state lasers with relative immunity from the effects of thermal loading, nonlinear loss processes (e.g. stimulated Brillouin scattering) and energy-transfer-upconversion. The use of a Tm-doped fiber laser as the pump source allows a great deal of flexibility, since the broad emission linewidth allows the wavelength to be tuned over a very wide range spanning the absorption lines of interest in Ho:YLF, Ho:YAG and many other Ho-doped crystals. In this paper, we report efficient operation of Ho:YAG and Ho:YLF lasers pumped by a tunable Tm-doped silica fiber laser. The lasing wavelength of the Tm-doped fibre laser could be tuned over 150nm from ~1860 to 2010nm with a relatively narrow linewidth (<0.5nm) and at output power levels in excess of 9W. Using a simple standing-wave cavity configuration, >6.4W of TEMoo output was obtained from a Ho:YAG laser at 2.1µm at the maximum incident pump power of 9.6W, corresponding to an optical-to-optical efficiency of 67%, and the slope efficiency with respect to incident pump power was 80%. By comparison, for a similar resonator design, 4.8W of output at 2.07µm was generated from a Ho:YLF laser at an incident pump power of 9.4W, corresponding to an optical conversion efficiency of 51%. Using a simple ring resonator geometry and an acousto-optic modulator to enforce unidirectional operation, we have obtained 3.7W of single-longitudinal-mode output from a Ho:YAG laser. The prospects for further improvement in performance and higher output power will be discussed.
46-55
Shen, Deyuan
c90f068d-200c-4617-99d3-889a4cd08a71
Sahu, Jayanta
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Clarkson, W. Andrew
3b060f63-a303-4fa5-ad50-95f166df1ba2
Terry, Jonathan A.C.
e9616bf5-d5f4-4fce-9a82-eba28c27d621
Clarkson, W.Andrew
3b060f63-a303-4fa5-ad50-95f166df1ba2
Shen, Deyuan
c90f068d-200c-4617-99d3-889a4cd08a71
Sahu, Jayanta
009f5fb3-6555-411a-9a0c-9a1b5a29ceb2
Clarkson, W. Andrew
3b060f63-a303-4fa5-ad50-95f166df1ba2
Terry, Jonathan A.C.
e9616bf5-d5f4-4fce-9a82-eba28c27d621
Clarkson, W.Andrew
3b060f63-a303-4fa5-ad50-95f166df1ba2

Shen, Deyuan, Sahu, Jayanta and Clarkson, W. Andrew (2004) Efficient holmium-doped solid-state lasers pumped by a Tm-doped silica fiber laser. Terry, Jonathan A.C. and Clarkson, W.Andrew (eds.) SPIE European Symposium on Optics and Photonics for Defence &amp; Security, , London, United Kingdom. 25 - 28 Oct 2004. pp. 46-55 . (doi:10.1117/12.578515).

Record type: Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)

Abstract

In-band pumping of Ho-doped solid-state lasers by a cladding-pumped Tm fiber laser is an attractive route to high output power and high pulse energy in the eyesafe two-micron spectral region. This approach combines the advantages of fiber lasers and crystal solid-state lasers with relative immunity from the effects of thermal loading, nonlinear loss processes (e.g. stimulated Brillouin scattering) and energy-transfer-upconversion. The use of a Tm-doped fiber laser as the pump source allows a great deal of flexibility, since the broad emission linewidth allows the wavelength to be tuned over a very wide range spanning the absorption lines of interest in Ho:YLF, Ho:YAG and many other Ho-doped crystals. In this paper, we report efficient operation of Ho:YAG and Ho:YLF lasers pumped by a tunable Tm-doped silica fiber laser. The lasing wavelength of the Tm-doped fibre laser could be tuned over 150nm from ~1860 to 2010nm with a relatively narrow linewidth (<0.5nm) and at output power levels in excess of 9W. Using a simple standing-wave cavity configuration, >6.4W of TEMoo output was obtained from a Ho:YAG laser at 2.1µm at the maximum incident pump power of 9.6W, corresponding to an optical-to-optical efficiency of 67%, and the slope efficiency with respect to incident pump power was 80%. By comparison, for a similar resonator design, 4.8W of output at 2.07µm was generated from a Ho:YLF laser at an incident pump power of 9.4W, corresponding to an optical conversion efficiency of 51%. Using a simple ring resonator geometry and an acousto-optic modulator to enforce unidirectional operation, we have obtained 3.7W of single-longitudinal-mode output from a Ho:YAG laser. The prospects for further improvement in performance and higher output power will be discussed.

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More information

e-pub ahead of print date: 2004
Additional Information: Mid-infrared sources
Venue - Dates: SPIE European Symposium on Optics and Photonics for Defence &amp; Security, , London, United Kingdom, 2004-10-25 - 2004-10-28

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 38232
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/38232
PURE UUID: 2dcdbc34-4825-4d92-b748-fb162d311842
ORCID for Jayanta Sahu: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-3560-6152

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 09 Jun 2006
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 03:20

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Contributors

Author: Deyuan Shen
Author: Jayanta Sahu ORCID iD
Editor: Jonathan A.C. Terry

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